Inferno Residue
by DaItalianFish
Summary: In the aftermath of the 4th Holy Grail War, a young boy wandered the remnants of his town, desperately seeking to survive. But the one that was supposed to be his saviour overlooked him, and he died, only to be later reborn as a monster. One-shot.


In that burning field of fire, I wandered aimlessly.

The town that I had once known looked like the remains of a battlefield. Buildings that once stood tall had crumbled by the now-calmed inferno, and a thick smoke filled the air. Ashes littered the ground, and they covered what remained of those who had died in this disaster.

There was no such thing as life left in this hell. All of it had been burnt away, destroyed meaninglessly.

But still, I wandered. Since I was the only one left, I thought I should live on.

But I knew there was no escape; no end to this red hell. I can't survive. I won't survive.

And so, I collapsed.

I stared at the clouds looming overhead. Somehow, they managed to look beautiful despite the chaos going down below them. Maybe it was because I understood that these clouds would be the last thing I would ever see.

While lying on the rocky remains of the town, I heard a voice. I could not see the person it was coming from, but I could tell it was a man. I could hear him digging away at the rocks, like he was searching for something. He sounded desperate.

I don't think he saw me, because he eventually continued on, and headed towards a different rocky pile.

I wonder what it would have been like if he _had _seen me. Maybe, just maybe, he could have stopped the pain.

But he didn't.

And at the end of that hellish night, I died.

* * *

And when I awoke, I was once again greeted with the red hell.

However, this time, the raging inferno was at full force. Buildings were still on fire, and some began to crumble right before my eyes. All around me, flames rose high in the sky, trapping me in this endless hell.

Yet through that red inferno, there appeared to be an opening. The pathway out; the pathway to escape this nightmare.

Since my body no longer hurt, I ran. I ran and ran and ran.

And as I did, I saw bodies. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies. But unlike before, these bodies were not just lifeless corpses: they screamed and yelled. And they all seemed to chant the same thing.

_"Help me."_

_"Please, help me."_

_"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"_

But I ignored them. I ignored them, just like I had done before.

When I reached the opening, I stopped. And when I took one last look behind me, I saw someone –someone who was still alive; someone not burning and calling for help.

"M-Mom?"

A distance away, I could see my mother still trapped in the raging inferno.

She had died – I knew that. Unlike me who had managed to survive the initial fire, she had died before she had even gotten the chance to escape, just like my father.

Tears were running down her cheeks as she stared at me with eyes full of both happiness and sadness. Her lips moved, but because of the raging inferno I could not hear her.

But somehow, I knew what she had said.

"Live."

And so I did. I turned back towards the opening, leaving my mother and the burning bodies behind me, and I lived.

* * *

Many things happened after that night.

When I awoke, I had found myself in a hospital, surrounded by many other children like me. Children who no longer had families; children who had their entire lives taken away from them.

But unlike them, I was different. My eyes that were once a golden-brown were now a deep red, a red darker than even the hair atop my head.

I think one of the nurses said it best.

"He's a monster."

She was probably right. Maybe that was the reason I had lived when others had died, because I am a monster.

Eventually, a woman came to see me. She took me away from that hospital, and introduced me to three other children.

A boy with short blonde hair, who looked like he was mistrustful of all his surroundings.

A girl with dark green hair, who looked like she was afraid of disappearing in any moment.

A boy with short black hair, who looked like he had a kind heart that was trapped under years of torment.

All three of them had red eyes. They were monsters, just like me.

Sometime later, the four of us were brought to a house. A little, red brick house. We were told that it was our new home.

But we were just red-eyed monsters. We don't deserve homes.

"That's not true."

A young girl smiled at the four of us.

"Red is the color of a hero, so there's no need to be afraid."

And, somehow, when that girl donned her red scarf and said,

"Hey, look! We're like a secret organization!"

The four of us finally understood.

* * *

Although we were just playing heroes, I knew that as long as we could manage a little smile, we could stay still stay a family, even if it was just for today.

**Author's Note: **This is only a concept I wrote in an hour or so. I may flesh it out more and create a full story, but for now it is only a barebones idea.


End file.
